Dear Neil and Merel,

You may be encouraged to know that several other people have written to The Red Hand Files expressing similar discomfort at the first line of ‘O Wow O Wow’. Indeed, I was recently sent a review of Wild God in an online music magazine that felt the need to single out –

She rises in advance of her panties

– as “the worst line Nick Cave has ever written“.

But as its creator I feel the need to defend it – not just out of some paternal urge, but because I have always thought the line was rather good. Truthfully, when I wrote the first verse of ‘O Wow O Wow‘, I was so pleased, that I took the rest of the day off!

The opening verse is, of course, a recollection of my younger days with Anita – in this instance, she rises naked from our shared bed – 

She rises in advance of her panties 

Whereupon I declare the devotional nature of that holy spectacle –

I can confirm that God actually exists!

Anita responds with her full and famous smile –

She turns and smiles but never ever scantily

Which inspires the happy bromide –

O wow, O wow, how wonderful she is!

This simple, silly, happy verse brings Anita’s playful nature to the fore. The vocal delivery echoes the clumsy first line, which is out of time and rhythm with the track, giving the verse its sweet, goofy naivety. For me, it recalls a time when innocent love could be such. The discomfort of the “panties” line is, in a way, the point – it represents a kind of freedom or unburdening, a way to exist outside the constraints of good writing or good taste or good behaviour and become something emergent and disorderly.

The song continues on its merry way with further foolishness –

The horses have kicked down the stable

The rabbits have put carrots in their ears

Her coloured crayons dance upon the table

O wow, O wow, how wonderful she is!

And later –

The country doctor whistles across the meadow

And Carly Paradis gaily whistles as –

The schoolboy jumps up and says, “Gee Whiz!”

All this happiness, punctuated by Warren’s untroubled vocoder, leads to the final verse, where we see that Anita has passed away. She is watched over by her friends, who are spirits too, braiding violets through her hair and all agreeing, “How wonderful she was.”

As I played the song on the piano at home, Susie commented on its tender beauty. I told her it was for Anita, and Susie smiled, not scantily, because she loved Anita just as Anita loved her. And so, Merel, the song is not just an honouring of Anita by The Bad Seeds but also by Susie, who sat by my side as I wrote it. Susie understands that many of my lyrics are attempts to keep those who have passed away at the vanguard of our being, not just as vague and shadowy ghosts but as fully embodied incantations of our love. When The Bad Seeds play ‘O Wow O Wow’ live, I can see on the faces of the audience a communal conjuring of Anita’s spirit – and through her, all our various departed, placing them at the forefront of our collective adulation.

Understanding Anita, as I do, I know she loves this song and is happy to be occasionally awakened and called back to us. The dead are glad to be remembered. As for the contentious first line, Neil, I think she likes it a lot.

Love, Nick